During
the intense debate regarding passage of ObamaCare by Democrat lawmakers,
very little if any mention was made of the potential for organized crime
to infiltrate the medical services industry and those companies involved
with hospitals, clinics, nursing homes and other enterprises ripe for
crime groups to milk.

Even when the topic of health care fraud is addressed, most examples
given are fraud and abuse cases perpetrated by individual health care
workers, patients or government employees. Yet, for a number of years
law enforcement officials experienced an upsurge in medical fraud cases
involving crime syndicates.

For example, 73 suspects, including a number of alleged members and
associates of an Armenian-American organized crime enterprise, were
charged in indictments Wednesday in five judicial districts with various
health care fraud-related crimes involving more than $163 million in
fraudulent billing, according to a report obtained by the Organized
Crime Committee of the National Association of Chiefs of Police.

In
this national, multi-agency investigation, 52 suspects were nabbed by
FBI agents in the largest Medicare fraud scheme ever perpetrated by
a single criminal enterprise. The suspects were immediately charged
by the Department of Justice.

Forty-four
defendants were charged in two indictments unsealed today in the Southern
District of New York with racketeering conspiracy and conspiracy to
commit the following acts: health care fraud, bank fraud, money laundering,
fraud in connection with identity theft, credit card fraud and immigration
fraud. In addition, seven defendants were charged in the District of
New Mexico with health care fraud, mail fraud, wire fraud, money laundering
conspiracy, money laundering, forfeiture and aggravated identity theft.

The
suspected gang members and associates are charged with engaging in numerous
fraud activities, including highly-organized, multi-million dollar schemes
to defraud Medicare and insurance companies by submitting fraudulent
bills for medically unnecessary treatments or treatments that were never
performed.

According
to the federal indictments, the defendants allegedly stole the identities
of doctors and thousands of Medicare beneficiaries and operated at least
118 different phony clinics in 25 states for the purposes of submitting
Medicare reimbursements.

“The
emergence of international organized crime in domestic health care fraud
schemes signals a dangerous expansion that poses a serious threat to
consumers as these syndicates are willing to exploit almost any program,
business or individual to earn an illegal profit,” said Acting
Deputy Attorney General Gary G. Grinder.

“The
Department of Justice is confronting this evolving threat here and abroad
through a number of initiatives including a strengthened Attorney General’s
Organized Crime Council and the creation of the International Organized
Crime Intelligence and Operations Center (IOC-2) to ensure that we are
focused and coordinated in our efforts to combat international organized
crime,” he stated in a DOJ release.

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The
international organized crime enterprise known as the Mirzoyan-Terdjanian,
fleeced the health care system through a wide-range of money making
criminal fraud schemes. The members and associates located throughout
the United States and in Armenia, perpetrated a large-scale, nationwide
Medicare scam that fraudulently billed Medicare for more than $100 million
of unnecessary medical treatments using a series of phantom clinics.

Six
defendants also were charged in the Southern District of Georgia with
health care fraud, conspiracy to commit health care fraud, money laundering
conspiracy and aggravated identity theft. Six defendants were charged
in the Northern District of Ohio with health care fraud, mail fraud,
conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money
laundering and aggravated identity theft.

Lastly,
10 defendants were charged in two indictments in the Central District
of California with conspiracy to commit bank fraud, bank fraud, money
laundering, conspiracy to launder monetary instruments, criminal forfeiture,
aggravated identity theft, aiding and abetting, and causing an act to
be done.

According
to the charges filed in U.S. District Court in the Southern District
of New York, the Mirzoyan-Terdjanian Organization is named for its principal
leaders, Davit Mirzoyan and Robert Terdjanian. The leadership of the
organization is based in Los Angeles and New York, and its operations
extend throughout the United States and internationally.

Among
the defendants charged with racketeering is Armen Kazarian, who is alleged
to be a “Vor,” a term translated as “Thief-in-Law”
and refers to a member of a select group of high-level criminals from
Russia and the countries that has been part of the now defunct Soviet
Union, including Armenia.

This
is the first time a Vor has ever been charged for a racketeering offense,
and the first time since 1996 that a known Vor has been arrested on
any federal charge, according to federal officials.

GANG
MEMBERS FACE STIFF PENALTIES

The
racketeering charges carry a maximum penalty of life in prison and a
$250,000 fine. The health care fraud and conspiracy to commit health
care fraud charges each carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison
and a $250,000 fine. The conspiracy to commit bank fraud charges each
carry a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and a fine of $1 million.
The conspiracy to commit money laundering charges each carry a maximum
penalty of 25 years in prison and a $500,000 fine.

The
conspiracy to commit money laundering charges each carry maximum penalties
of 20 years in prison and a $500,000 fine. The conspiracy to commit
fraud in connection with identity theft charges carry a maximum penalty
of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

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The
aggravated identity theft charges each carry a required two-year consecutive
prison sentence to any other sentence imposed, the conspiracy to commit
credit card fraud charges carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison
and a $250,000 fine. The conspiracy to commit immigration fraud charges
carry a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Jim Kouri, CPP
is currently fifth vice-president of the National
Association of Chiefs of Police. He's former chief at a New York City
housing project in Washington Heights nicknamed "Crack City" by reporters
covering the drug war in the 1980s. He's also served on the National Drug
Task Force and trained police and security officers throughout the country.

He writes for
many police and crime magazines including Chief of Police, Police Times,
The Narc Officer, Campus Law Enforcement Journal, and others. He's appeared
as on-air commentator for over 100 TV and radio news and talk shows including
Oprah, McLaughlin Report, CNN Headline News, MTV, Fox News, etc. His book
Assume The Position is available at Amazon.Com, Booksamillion.com, and
can be ordered at local bookstores.